Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,425 shares of the company’s stock after selling 475 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 360.0% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MNST. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Monster Beverage from $59.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Monster Beverage from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.85.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of MNST opened at $50.83 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $48.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.44. Monster Beverage Co. has a twelve month low of $43.32 and a twelve month high of $61.22. The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.97, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.74.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.